Back to Basics
by DarkLordRising
Summary: Naruto finds out about the war from Iruka. Faced with the overwhelming responsibility of ending the war and knowing he isn't ready, he takes an offer he can't refuse; A chance to prepare for the battles that lie before him. Time-travel.
1. Time

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.**

_**Back to Basics,**_

_**By DarkLordRising**_

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><p><strong>Prologue: Time<strong>

"What is this...?" I asked.

My breath came in wide gasps as if I had been running for a long while. Snippets of information entered my brain. Faded, colorless images of countless battles taking place all across the globe. I looked up at Iruka and knew the answer as he stood. How foolish had I been to think this was a stupid S-Class mission. They meant to detain me here.

"What the hell is this?" I asked again.

"War..." Iruka said, coldly. Though I already knew the answer, it still left me a bit rattled. "Madara's making his move..."

"Iruka!" Gen shouted in protest.

"I think it's time we stopped lying, Gen-san." Iruka rebuked. "Naruto's no fool. Our only choice now is to explain the situation rationally..."

Their voices seemed to fade away. I still hadn't deactivated the Sage mode and I could still sense their chakra's. It was extremely overwhelming. Why hadn't anybody told me this? Why was I being held here?

"Yeah, explain why I should sit on my ass while my friends and comrades are out there suffering and dying!" I said, out of reflex though I couldn't remember what Iruka had said.

"Because we are fighting this war to protect you!" Iruka cried. I blinked, processing the words. My brain refused to co-operate. Protect me? Why?

"Madara is hitting us with the full brunt of his forces. He's determined to capture you and Killer Bee-san once and for all." Iruka explained, sensing my confused state.

Colorless images of non-stop fighting once again rattled my brain, catching me off guard. Those people out there were all risking their lives for me? Why didn't Bee do something? Surely he knows why we are being kept here.

My friends. My comrades. Even complete strangers were fighting for me and Bee.

"Naruto, your battle this time is a battle with yourself...to wait and endure..." I heard Iruka say.

War.

A small memory sprang it's way to the forefront of my mind.

"You _try_ to see a greater meaning behind the slaughter..." The tired voice said.

"...But there is only hatred...And pain...And there is nothing you can do about it...Pointless death...Bottomless hatred...Unending pain..._That_ is war."

Pain. Nagato. It was he who had said this to me. Who had warned me of this event.

"...It will be up to you, Naruto. To face it all...My role ends here. Naruto...Maybe you really _can_ do something about it."

Could I really? It had all seemed easy then. When there was nothing like this looming over my head. Had Pain-san really felt something like this in real-life?

"...You would have to face it all..."

"...Pointless Death...Bottomless hatred...Unending pain..."

These words seemed to echo in my brain, only emphasizing their importance. Was I really ready? I looked at my hand, seeking consolation. It was a bit rugged from the unsuccessful training with the Tailed-Beast Bomb...-

That was when I realized. Bee had agreed to this isolation. Bee had agreed to let his friends and comrades die in return for his safety and my own. Bee was a selfless person. There could be only one reason why he hadn't disagreed about this.

_I_ wasn't ready. At least, Bee didn't think so.

"...Do something about it..." Nagato's words floated in the air. I couldn't think. My brain seemed to shut down. Was I ready? Now, the faded images were seemingly brought before me. Iruka and Gen-san faded as if in a distant recollection. The images were brought to life and suddenly, I could see countless people fighting before me.

Gruesome drops of blood spilled in a matter of seconds. Every second counted. Countless bodies exploded in a shower of blood. A bloody circus.

It didn't make sense. At least, not to me. There was so much violence, far beyond what a normal ninja would ever face back in the peaceful days. I felt the urge to throw up but I didn't give in and instead settled on choking.

I had to endure all this. I promised Pain-san. I needed to end this war. I needed to endure all the pain and hatred on my own. That was my role.

"You aren't ready." I looked up. Nine bright red tails swished from side to side as an enormous face stared back at me. The Fox. I had somehow ended up in the sewer.

"What did you say?" I asked, staring right back at the fearsome eyes which I had come to hate for their existence.

"You aren't ready, Naruto." The Fox said, grinning manically. "You can feel it yourself, can't you? You would have to be completely naive to think that you can bear the hatred of all the people and end this war by yourself."

"I'll do something about this, Fox." I cried. "I will do something about Sasuke and this war. I will end this."

"You _can_ do something about this, Naruto." The Fox said, surprising me.

"I-I will never give in to you..." I said.

"This is not something you will regret, boy." The Fox smiled deviously.

"How will it help you?" I snapped.

"It helps me as well. The more prepared you are, the more chances of you surviving. If you survive the war. _I_ survive the war." The Fox replied. "I haven't gotten this far only to be killed because a little runt like you wasn't prepared to fight."

"...What can you give me? I don't want your power." I said.

"I can give you...time." The Fox said. I stared back at it in surprise. Time?

"Time? How? The war's already started, Fox." I reminded it.

"Time doesn't matter to an entity such as I, little runt." The Fox said, grinning widely.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I can send you back in time." The Fox stated, simply.

"What?" I blurted out, shocked.

"It takes a considerable amount of my power to do so but as I see no way of you destroying me while I am in a weakened state, I am willing to take that chance if it means that I would survive." The Fox said.

It didn't matter to me if the Fox and I died, all it mattered was that I would be able to end this war and save my comrades. Of course, I didn't tell that to the Fox.

"Where will you send me?" I asked. It didn't matter anymore. I had to give in. It would help end the war. I _needed_ to end the war.

"We will both be going back a few years. Be warned, you are to make no contact with anyone whom you know or who knows you. You must stay away from any and all beings so as to prevent a future much more disastrous than this one." The Fox said.

"I am ready." I replied, digesting this new piece of information. I had to be as quiet as possible in my training. "As long as it will help me end the war and save my comrades the pain, I am ready."

"It doesn't matter if you are ready or not, you are going back either way. I am not taking my chances." The Fox snapped.

"This better not be one of your tricks, Fox." I said as the ground began to shake. I suddenly found myself back on the island.

"We better go inside, Naruto." Iruka said. I blinked rapidly, a bit surprised at the sudden light.

A massive wave of pain shot over me. A small floating feeling took hold of me. My vision turned white as I spun around on the spot. Iruka and Gen watched confused as I vanished before their eyes, leaving a small charred ground in my wake.

"What the hell just happened?" Gen asked.

"I have no idea..."

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><p>A sharp feeling of pain jolted me awake. It was dark. All was quiet. I was in a field. The floating feeling persisted for a little while before fading away. I felt extremely tired.<p>

"Fox, you there?" I asked. There was no reply. I was beginning to get a bit worried but I couldn't move.

"Where am I?" I asked myself.

This didn't look like any of the fields that I knew. Had the Fox really sent me back in time? Could it really do so, in the first place? A bad feeling overtook me. Why did I accept? I was ready. I shouldn't have accepted it's offer. I would have been better off on my own. I could have endured it. I could have ended the war. I had given in, in a moment of weakness.

A cold gaze swept over my head. I closed my eyes, intent on relaxing in the quiet atmosphere. I was nearly hyperventilating when I learned about the war. But all that seemed so far away right now. It was so quiet.

"IS THAT A MAN? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT IDIOT DOING THERE!" A shout jolted me awake. I looked around hurriedly for the source of the noise. I spotted a group of people rushing towards me. I couldn't move. They raised their weapons and one thrust a kunai under my head.

"Who are you?" The owner of the kunai asked, making a motion for me to be as quiet as possible.

"He's wearing one of our's." Another man said. "However, I don't think a platoon has been sent here...be careful, it can be a spy."

"What's the password?" The first man asked. I stammered as he shook me hard. "What's the password?" He repeated fiercely.

"Umm...I-" I was saved from answering as a series of shouts turned their attention. Without warning, something exploded nearby and we were pushed backwards. The aftermath of the explosion lit up the small field and I could finally see my assailant's faces. I didn't recognize the first two faces until-

"K-Kakashi-sensei!" I blurted out. The man in question snapped his head towards me, staring at me with suspicion.

"Come on, let's go!" The third man grabbed me and started dragging me. My eyes widened further as I looked at my mirror-image.

"Da-" I stopped myself, bewildered out of my mind as he seemed to drag me on. "W-What's going on?" I asked, more to myself.

"It's the first strike. We're at war, son. We are at war."

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><p>A\N: I hope you all liked this. Tell me if it's good enough that I should make it into a multi-chaptered story or leave it like a one-shot like this. Read and Review!<p> 


	2. Lethargy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.**

_**Back to Basics,**_

_**By DarkLordRising**_

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><p><strong>Prologue II: Lethargy<strong>

Pain shot through my arm as my father dragged it along. Before long, we came to rest beside an enormous gorse bush, taking cover from whoever were making these small explosions and such noises across from us.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked again. The field had just been peaceful moments ago. The other four ignored me.

"We have to get back as soon as we can." Minato said. It had to be my dad. It just had to be.

"Yeah, the village must be warned that we're at war." The only woman in the squad said.

"What do we do about this guy?" Kakashi said, nodding his head towards me. He didn't recognize me. My dad was still alive. Kyubi really had been telling the truth when it said that it could bend time to it's will. I had really traveled back in time. It didn't seem to hit me a lot right then.

"He could be a spy..." The woman said, a bit wistfully.

"I don't know...I don't think so. T-There's something about him." The third man said, polishing his goggles. I looked up at him. He and the other girl were the only ones whom I didn't recognize. Yet, I think I knew all the faces of the ninja in our village as of now. It was strange.

"I agree...Let's bring him back to Konoha." Kakashi said. I turned to him in surprise and a bit of gratefulness. The girl on the other hand turned to my dad. It was quite clear that he was the leader of this team. I distinctly remember that Kakashi-sensei said that he was taught by my dad once. It was all falling into place. I just had to make sure that I wasn't dreaming.

"Kakashi!" The woman and the man gasped in surprise.

"So that we can interrogate him." Kakashi finished. "It is standard Shinobi Protocol when dealing with a spy. He may know some damaging secrets about the village he comes from." He added. This seemed to quell the surprise Kakashi-sensei's first reply had ignited. I did not like this version of sensei at all.

Before I knew what was happening, the woman and the man grabbed me by the shoulders and I was trapped. Tangled in a hefty net, I struggled helplessly as I was dragged along towards a small path. All my weapons had been found and taken away. Except for a small kunai I stored behind my forehead protector. I could get out whenever I wanted but I was not sure that I could take on Kakashi-sensei and his friends and my dad at the same time when I was in this weakened state.

"Stay alert. Those guys may still be in the perimeter." Minato said. I looked around at them. Kakashi-sensei was dragging me around whilst whistling while the other two were by his side, kunai's out, ready to move at the smallest indication. My dad scouted ahead a bit, carefully marking the area.

Kakashi-sensei stopped whistling. My dad stopped walking.

"This should be safe now. We have entered our own border's. With the current state of affair's, they wouldn't dare enter the premises..." Minato said, a bit loudly.

"How can you be so sure?" A voice whispered from behind my dad. The silent whisper echoed throughout the clearing. We froze as soon as we heard the voice. In a flash someone appeared behind my dad. An Iwa-nin. My dad's expression froze on his face as the Iwa-nin thrust the kunai into his stomach.

"Da-" I cried out in surprise. There was a puff of smoke as my dad disappeared from view. A clone. I heaved a sigh of relief as my dad appeared out of the shadows and engaged the Iwa-nin in a battle of fists. The other three were locked in similar battles. I was jostled endlessly as Kakashi refused to let go of the sack while fighting.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique." The goggle guy said. His opponent stepped aside neatly and countered with a side-slam that sent him flying.

"Obito!" The woman cried in alarm. Obito groaned from the ground but didn't get back up. Her attention diverted, her opponent smacked her across the face, sending her down to the ground.

"Rin! Watch out!" Obito exclaimed, clutching his bleeding head.

"Earth Release: Fist Rock" Her opponent said. His hand became encased in heavy rock as it arched back. Rin shrank back a bit, holding up her arms to protect herself from the oncoming blast that would surely, if not killed her, then gravely injured her.

"You should look out for yourself, you know?" Obito's opponent said, as a wall of earth burst forth from the ground, advancing rapidly towards Obito.

I knew it was time. With a simple swipe from the kunai in fluid motion, I burst out of the net. The familiar feeling of adrenaline pumped in my veins as my heart beat increased. A hand-seal later, I had two Shadow Clones by my side. Without needing instructions, they rushed in opposite directions.

"Rasengan!" My clone cried, thrusting the swirling ball, that he had formed using Sage Mode, at Obito's opponent. Caught off guard, the man was thrown away from the force of the blast, landing several feet across from Kakashi, knocked unconscious.

The other clone dashed towards Rin's opponent. Grabbing the heavy arm encased in earth with his own arm encased in chakra, he dragged it downwards to the ground where it struck with a terrific blast. Rin's opponent tripped forward and landed straight in the path of the clone's punch which knocked it unconscious.

I grunted as the two clones dispelled and the left over chakra fueled my active Sage-Mode. These guys were amateurs. No more then small fry. Obito and Rin should have been able to take them on. At least, that was what I expected from members of the team of the future Fourth Hokage.

I pushed on as I body-flickered behind Kakashi-sensei's opponent and struck his neck with the back of my hand, knocking him unconscious without a sound. Kakashi-sensei appeared surprised as I bound his opponent's legs with the same net from which I had escaped.

I turned around, intending to help my father only to find his opponent lying on the ground, defeated. My clones rounded up the other two and together, we rounded up the four unconscious Iwa-nin's side by side.

"Well...Let's move on." Minato said. The other three members of his team gathered around him, staring at me in distrust. I made no move to speak, suddenly feeling the urge to lie down. I shrugged it away.

"What do we do with him?" Rin asked.

"The only thing we can do right now." Minato said. I looked up at him, expecting them to bind me in another net. "...Trust him." His reply left me stunned. Why?

My father's authority really showed as Rin and Obito didn't object and instead started wrapping the four captured Iwa-nin's in the hefty nets while Kakashi searched them for any weapons.

We set off into the night, making camp only when it became too dark to see the road ahead. The moon hid behind the clouds as we pitched tents, the cold, biting wind making most of us shiver. The three of them stayed as far as possible from me which was alright since I didn't wish to communicate with them at all. I had hardly said a word or two since saving Rin and Obito.

We each had our own tents and the sleeping prisoners were dumped in another extra tent without delay. I watched my dad take guard while Kakashi-sensei, Obito and Rin went to sleep. I too laid back in bed, wondering why my father had agreed to trust me so easily. Perhaps, he had no other choice right now. Yeah, that must have been it.

Unsurprisingly, I had a visitor in my tent that night.

"I don't care what Minato-sensei says about you." Kakashi whispered, pressing a kunai against my neck. "I don't trust you. One wrong move and..." He let the sentence hang in the air.

"I'll be watching." were his parting words. He was gone even before I could detect his presence.

I didn't say anything, or even move either. A sudden wave of lethargy seemed to have hit me. I didn't feel like walking or even talking for that matter. It was all a hazy blur. Maybe I shouldn't have used that much chakra in the fight. I didn't really know what was happening. I sighed and laid back to sleep.

The next day, after the tiring task of getting the tent back into Obito's backpack, I walked alongside the four. My feet seemed to drag on as the way ahead stretched on. My vision blurred as my knees buckled. Without warning, I was on the floor, unable to move.

Beads of sweat poured down my forehead. My breath came in deep gasps. I could see Rin's face examining my own as Kakashi-sensei, Obito and my dad looked on.

"...Ch-...E-..." I couldn't hear what they were saying as my heart beat increased. The sweat poured faster as I gasped for breath. Something was going to happen.

I shakily rose my arm and looked at it. It was drenched in sweat. Before I knew what was happening, my vision turned black...

A tiny beating sound awoke me.

I couldn't feel my body which made me a bit uncomfortable. What was happening to me? My breath no longer came in gasps. Actually, as far as I was concerned, I felt fine. Although a slight floating feeling did remain; the same floating feeling I had experienced when Kyubi had took me back in time.

Back in time. Had that really happened? Was this all a dream? It didn't hit me like ton of bricks. It didn't feel like something major had really happened, yet it had. It had, hadn't it?

I tried to look around but everywhere I turned darkness seemed to stretch on for infinity. I looked round and about. The only thing I could notice was the greenish, murky floor I was walking on. It was extremely wet and I had a difficult time trying not to slip.

Suddenly, it hit me where I was. This murky floor. The darkness. It was all quite familiar.

I was in the sewer.

The worse part about this simple observation? It was completely empty.

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><p>A\N: Thanks for all the amazing reviews. I hope you all liked this chapter. Read and Review.<p>

**southern hickup**: Naruto can't really get away from them right now. Plus, there is some inner turmoil going on with him right now. By the way, how does every travel-back-to-daddys-time-period fic go? I seem to have read none of those, so I would appreciate a bit of detail on that comment. Thanks for reviewing.

**chiichaan**: The second option I think. What do you mean, "or the very least adopted?". Isn't it clear that Minato is Naruto's father in the manga? Thanks for reviewing.

**Rixxell Stryfe**: Naruto didn't get sent back in time to fight the war with his father. He got sent back to _experience_ a war with _or_ without his father. Thanks for reviewing.

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed. Hope you all liked this chapter as well.


	3. Trust

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.**

_**Back to Basics,**_

_**By DarkLordRising**_

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><p><strong>Prologue III: Trust<strong>

Empty.

Devoid of life.

That was not how I had come to view this sewer. Yet here I stood. Nothing but bottomless darkness lay before me. No sign of life. No sign of that familiar hatred that I had come to associate with this sewer.

Where...Where was Kyubi?

"KYUBI!" I shouted. In this everlasting darkness, my voice seemed to die before it even left my mouth. There was no reply.

"KYUBI! KYUBI!" I continued shouting until my voice cracked from the pressure. What the hell was going on? Where the hell was the stupid Fox?

"KYUBI!"

"EASY THERE! STOP SHOUTING IN MY EAR!" A voice shouted back at me. I shook my head as I found myself back at the field where I had fallen. The sewer's landscape faded from my eyes as I looked around. Rin's bewildered eyes stared back into mine. She seemed a bit pissed off.

"What is the matter with you?" Rin snapped. I had been screaming nonsensical things in her ear. Thank god she hadn't heard about the Fox.

"Where am I?" I asked, blinking rapidly from the sudden light. It was a bright sunny day and we were outside in a field. Kakashi-sensei, Obito and my dad were nowhere to be seen.

"You fainted." Rin stated. "So we carried you here. The other's have gone to hunt for food." She seemed displeased. Naturally, she would have preferred to go with the other's but she was stuck with me.

It was just like when Ino and I were the only one's in the classroom because everybody else had taken an off for an exam the next day. Ino's mother had refused to allow her to skip school and she was stuck with making idle conversation with me. She had been a bit okay with me quite unlike her usual coldness. However, the next day she was back to her natural self. It suited me fine. I didn't like these sort of situations. They were too awkward.

"You didn't leave me behind?" I asked, a bit surprised.

"Minato-sensei was adamant..." Rin said, narrowing her eyes as she stared at me. "I can't see why..."

I stared off into the distance, wondering why the hell was I unable to communicate with Kyubi. Did he not exist inside me anymore? Was this a consequence of traveling back to a time where Kyubi was still outside? No that couldn't be possible. I had felt it. I had felt the Fox's presence the first time I had landed up here. It had been quite dim. Quite untraceable. I had only felt it by chance when I had thought to take the Fox's chakra while fighting the Iwa-nin but they had all turned out to be so weak that it had been unnecessary.

But now it was gone. Now, there wasn't a trace left. It was a bit scary.

"HEY!" Rin's shout gained my attention. I turned to her, raising my eyebrows in question. "Do you or do you not want something to eat?"

I was about to reply when my stomach growled unexpectedly. She smiled softly. I looked at her face. It was a nice smile. A refreshing change from the sad smiles that Sakura gave me of late. What could have been...

"What?" Rin snapped, noticing me looking at her. I turned away and grunted.

"Nothing," I mumbled, still not looking at her. Rin shrugged and offered me a plate. On it was freshly cooked fish; the staple diet of almost every ninja. It smelled heavenly and I quickly devoured it whole.

"Thanks." I added, almost as an afterthought after I had finished and cleaned every crumb off my plate. Rin looked at me in disgust. I take it Kakashi-sensei and Obito-san had better table-manners than me.

"OI!" A sudden call made us stand up. It was Obito-san, Kakashi-sensei and my dad, coming back from their hunt.

"We're back!" Obito exclaimed. He seemed in a jolly mood. It turned out, he had caught the biggest fish. Apparently this was a big cause for celebration. He thumped Rin on the back joyfully, almost making her fall. His joyful manner calmed significantly when he spotted me standing close by. He stared at me, surveying me from head to toe before shrugging and arching forward.

"By the way, we never really got a chance to properly meet what with you fainting and not speaking to us at all." Obito said, offering a hand. "My name's Uchiha. Uchiha, Obito. Thanks for saving me and Rin by the way." I froze. Uchiha. Sasuke's clan. They noticed my surprise, tensing just a bit if I did something suspicious.

I did the only thing that wouldn't escalate the situation further. I shook his hand.

"Uz-" I paused. I noticed my father tense a bit for the first time since I had been in their company. He was clearly paying attention. "Naruto-...S-suzumaki."

"Nice to meet you, Suzumaki." Obito said, though it looked anything but that. I see. He thought I had been suspicious of the famous Uchiha clan.

"Rin." Rin replied politely when I looked at her. A person without a surname, huh. I had never met one of them until now. My dad smiled politely when I turned towards him.

"Namikaze. Namikaze, Minato." Minato said, shaking my hand. The calm atmosphere returned only to be instantly broken. The real problem came when I turned towards Kakashi-sensei who just shrugged and started walking.

"Ignore him." Obito said, helplessly. "He's just like that." I didn't say anything. I knew they were just trying to be friendly but deep down they still didn't trust me at all. I guess that was all I could get in such a short amount of time.

We started our journey again. A bit muddled about the whole affair of yesterday, I asked Rin about it since she seemed to be someone like Sakura; a medical specialist.

"You fainted." Rin said, simply when I asked her. "A classic case of Chakra exhaustion. Do try not to use so much of it this time, although it did save our lives. Thanks for that by the way." She gave me a small genuine smile that did not quite reach her eyes. She still didn't trust me properly.

"I have a question." Minato said. I slowed my pace a bit so that we were shoulder to shoulder and the other's couldn't hear our conversation; or so I thought. "Where are you from, Suzumaki-kun?" His eyes slightly shifted to my forehead protector which bore the symbol of Konoha. Shit.

I noticed the other's listening intently. Especially Kakashi-sensei. His muscles were tense and ready to attack me at a moment's notice. I searched in my brain for the history lesson where Iruka-sensei had taught me all about invading another village. Nothing useful sprang up from that lesson. I mainly remember sleeping a lot in that period.

So, I did the only thing that came naturally. I answered truthfully.

"I am not entitled to reveal that information yet." I said. Naturally, this didn't satisfy them. I could see my dad staring at me curiously before shrugging and continuing onward. Although, I did notice a slight change in posture from him. Apparently in not revealing where I was from, their suspicions about me had only risen up. Perfect. Just what I wanted. To look even more suspicious.

The rest of the journey passed in silence. The friendliness from before had evaporated. The moon was just about to come up when my father broke the tense silence.

"We should hurry. We should get there today itself. We don't have much time." Minato said. "The attack happened yesterday night. At the very least, the meeting can be scheduled for tomorrow."

"Meeting?" Obito asked, curiously. Kakashi-sensei answered him.

"Before an act of war can be declared, it is standard procedure for the Kage's of the two villages to have a meeting to try and sort things out. A way to stop an unnecessary war if one agrees to the terms of the other. Although that has never happened. No Kage has ever bowed before the other." Kakashi said. "Although, for all we know, this small attack on our border's can simply be a desperate call for help."

"Help, how?" Rin asked.

"It could be that Iwagakure didn't have the time necessary to send a plea for help via hawk messenger. From all the standard procedures, paperwork and needless time wasting procedures that involve a treaty and studying conditions for a village to finally help another village, this is the fastest solution for getting heard as war takes top priority." Kakashi said.

"That's clearly not the case here." I said. "Those Iwa-nin were out for blood." It had already happened in my time-line and I was just about to witness the stories I had heard from Iruka-sensei. Now I had no way of backing down. But perhaps this had been for the best after all. How else could I get stronger than by being in a war myself? I just wish that I don't make a big blunder of it all.

"I agree." Minato said. "This time...it really is war."

"The Third Shinobi World War..." Obito whispered. The atmosphere turned gloomy as we jumped onto trees. Gathering chakra onto our feet, we jumped from tree to tree; a fast method when wanting to travel short distances but quite tiring when going long distance. For most people. Frankly, I could do this all day with ease thanks to the Fox's chakra.

A few hours later, my dad shot down from the trees, prompting us to follow him. The shrubbery and trees had changed to the extent that I no longer recognized where I was supposed to go. We landed in a thick field much like the one from where we had taken to the trees.

"There it is..." Rin mumbled softly. I stared.

There it was indeed. The village where I was born. The village I grew up in. There, in front of me, lay Konoha. Except that it looked nothing like the Konoha I knew and loved...

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><p>AN: Thanks for the reviews. Hope you liked this chapter as well. I understand that the second Prologue didn't have much of an impact but I hope that this one makes up for it in a way. Keep in mind, prologue II and III are just to get things moving.

**Chiichaan**: Okay. Well it is the second option nonetheless. He is a Jonin and head of a team so it is natural to refer to Naruto as a son as he is greater in rank and in age.

**SonYukiGokusSister**: That's for you to find out and me to write(grins).

**southern hickup**(love the name by the way): Magical solution to every battle in the war? Sorry. Not in this one. He is going to win. He is going to lose. He's here to experience a war, not to win or put a stop to it(Though at his current level, I don't think he can, even if he tries.) Finding out if he is related to Minato...I have no plans of that as of yet. Why would anyone do a blood test while the person was unconscious? Was it a blood depletion problem or something? There is definitely not going to be tearful reunion by Minato even if Minato found out that Naruto was his son somehow. That's not how I think the future Fourth Hokage will act. Anyway, thanks for explaining.

Thanks to you three who reviewed. Hope to get a bit more reviews in this one.


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